Socialism

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Beehaw's community for socialists, communists, anarchists, and non-authoritarian leftists (this means anti-capitalists) of all stripes. A place for all leftist and labor news and discussion, as long as you're nice about it.

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Should Non-Authoritarian Socialists/Leftists use the term "Comrade"? Why or Why Not? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by WtfEvenIsExistence@lemmy.ca to c/socialism@beehaw.org

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This community seems to be a curation of news articles, so I'm not sure if a discussion question is supposed to be here.

So anyways:

I really liked this term, but unfortunately, it has been used by authoritarians (particularly the people that call themselves "Marxist-Leninists"), so the word has a negative connotation amongst people living in countries with a democratic system, to be associated with those authoritarian regimes.

Given this negative connotation with the term, should Non-Authoritarian Socialists/Leftists use this term? Why or Why Not?

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[–] davehtaylor@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I feel like it's not a word to try to reclaim. Especially when we try to explain to people that the Soviets weren't actually socialists and we're trying to build a grassroots democratic movement, it seems like using terms that echo that authoritarian regime can only hurt the cause.